Ballew-Berries: October 2012

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Craft Time at the Ballew House!

We're making necklaces for snack...this works on hand eye coordination as well as our taste buds!! This was not the easiest of projects but eventually they got the hang of what we were doing. I did however make the mistake of showing them how to eat the cereal off the necklace before we were finished...This made Carter's job come to a quick halt! I think the kid's really enjoyed this activity and did a great job at it. Thanks Jac-kie!

First ER Visit

Tyler is the winner for the first ER visit! It took us almost 28 months for our first time so I think I should count myself as one lucky Momma. On September 2, 2012 I was in my bathroom getting ready for a special date with my husband...many of you will recount this as a special day in Jeremy and my lives. Jeremy was there with me and we were talking about how we were to drop off the kids and what we would do with our free time. All of the sudden we heard screaming from the playroom. I didn't even flinch because it was not an uncommon scream. Actually, it sounded to me like a "he took my toy" scream, but Jeremy went running to the rescue. As I hear Jeremy shouting an "uh-oh" in adult language I then become more action oriented. I'm coming out of the bedroom and I see Jeremy carrying Tyler towards me with blood streaming down his face. I make a u-turn and gather some kleenex and dampen them with water. I direct Jeremy to set Tyler down on my chair and tell him to go get a towel. I quickly realize this is a lot of blood, luckily for me it was not my first experience with gushing blood. Jeremy came back with a paper towel, my response was no--a real towel we have to stop the bleeding. Before I start the dramatics let me jump to the ending, three stitches; I don't want to scare anyone here! Jeremy was a bit more uneasy than me because this was his first experience with more than the common scratch. We applied pressure and stopped the bleeding. I was able to finish straightening my hair before we set forth on what ended up being quite the date night! We called Mike and Erin and informed them we had a delay but would be there to drop off the kids. Neither Jeremy or I really realized that stitches would be required. As we drove to M and E's we realized it was still bleeding because Tyler had decided to rip off the band-aid of course. So we arrived and asked for them to take a look...the automatic response was--that needs stitches; well POOP! So much for a relaxing night, I was so close to a Gloria's patio dinner with ritas! Instead we booked it to the urgent care center to see if they could help. After arriving the doctor came out and said we needed to go to the ER. So off we went into uncharted territory. I wasn't happy about venturing into a hospital waiting room and packed as little as possible, diaper bag with lovie, hot wheels car, tractor book, a couple diapers and wipes. Tyler was so excited, he wanted to touch everything, I cringed each time he touched something new. We sat down after filling out the paper work and first tried to entertain him with the car. It made it about 4 minutes before falling to the floor. Next we tried the book, this lasted a bit longer because we were able to catch it a couple times before it made contact with the germ infested floor! Next he started getting cranky so we brought out the lovie. This lasted all of 30 seconds, so I was out of options. We had to use something dirty, I swear I'm such a germ-a-phobe and this was not easy for me! So we were called back after about 25 minutes to start our paperwork process. I was doing good answering all the questions then he asked so what exactly happened?...My response, "Well we weren't in the room, but I think he tripped and hit his eye on the toy chest." There it was, the silent pause as he looked up at me and Jeremy to determine what kind of parents we were...don't get me wrong I understand but still! I quickly added that he is a triplet and this was our first visit to an ER and they were almost 2 1/2. The tone warmed back up after this comment; but really I have no idea what he wrote about us on that form! We were then chauffeured to our private room and the very nice nurses began the process of prepping Tyler for his stitches. He got some medicine and they numbed his forehead. We had to wait another thirty minutes for all this to start working it's magic. Luckily, we only threw our lovie on the floor about 27 more times before he was out of it enough to not notice it was gone! Soon enough the nurse and doctor were in to put in our stitches. They swaddled Tyler in a sheet and began their sewing. I won't lie, after not eating dinner, (thanks Tyler!), I almost passed out watching this! This process was very quick and Tyler was a CHAMP! They said that he was really, really good for the whole experience, I have no idea where he would get this from! After a few minutes we were on to the fun part of the visit--eating a popsicle...I was told some parents opt to skip this part...REALLY!?! All in all, it wasn't my best Anniversary ever, but it will definitely be on up there in the memorable category I'm sure! Thank you Mike and Erin for all your help as we ventured thru this crazy time of parenthood!

This is sweet Tyler on the way to the ER. It's hard to see, but he has a band-aid over the cut.

This is "doped" up Tyler. When we got back to Mike and Erin's I set him down after we walked in the house. When he began stumbling backwards I realized he needed to be held for the night!

My sweet baby loving life in Mommy and Daddy's bed. This is a rare occurrence in our house...

This was on our visit to get the stitches out, Tyler got some extra one on one time with Mommy!

Any guesses on how much an ER visit costs when you haven't put anything toward your deductible and you owe 100%???

Not fun is all I have to say about that!

28-29 Months

Here are more random pictures of our busy lives with the trio!

It's funny how I say busy and then show a picture of Carter chill-axin, huh?!?

This is a Barbie Jeep we got for free off my facebook group, she said all it needed was a charger, we bought the charger and it still doesn't work. They love to sit in it at least!

Who says, "Three is a crowd"?

Playdoh time

So this is showing our newest transition with the cribs. Madison is still the only one to have climbed out so I thought I'd show them by lowering the mattresses all the way to the floor. Well, as you can see, this turned into them sliding the mattress out and a "hampster ball" affect with the cribs. I have once again outwitted these 2 year olds by laying cabinet liner on the floor under the mattresses and anchoring the cribs to the wall. Oh the lengths I'll go to to preserve my 3 hour nap schedule!

I mean five isn't too old for cribs and naps is it?

This is Madison and Tyler's room on that first day.

Of course I wasn't happy to go in on day 2 and find Madison free again! She and I have since had a heart to heart and she stays in now! Another win for Mommy, at least for today!

Here they seem angelic...

Dinner date with Alania and Cage.

This was our first visit to Yesterland Farm, the kids walked the entire way thru the corn maze. They also carried their own cups! Such big kids!

GOATS!

DONKEY

Waiting for the Pig Races in our front row seats!

Playroom fun

We got a Rosas about 15 minutes from the house, this was opening night when we went to eat and took 5 children and 4 adults. Rosas has now decided to invest in more highchairs!

Yesterland Farm, look at all three of them climbing up that fence!

This is one of the 4 playgrounds at Lake Point Church. They have 2 indoor and 2 outdoor where you can go play for free on Mondays and Fridays.

The toddler indoor playground at Lake Point!

I missed the cute one where they were off walking side by side. :(

This is our fort we built while the kids were sick and stuck inside.

Madison worn out after destroying the fort.

Our neighbor, Alania's birthday party!

Dancing with Minnie Mouse

Cupcakes! It was funny Jackie brought Cage a white with white icing cupcake then brought my kids chocolate with red icing...let's just say that was quickly nixed!

Their first lineup! What a crazy crew!

Daddy may kill me for this, but I just wanted to show what a hard worker he is, even at home! I told him Madison would let him borrow that blanket for work! <3

Pops and 4 of the 5!

Another dinner date with Alania!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Yesterland Farm

What a cute crowd??

I went with my neighbors down to Canton to visit Yesterland Farm. One word to describe this place is AMAZING! So of course we had to come back and this time we made it a family affair! Lolly-Pops, Aunt Becca, Pepa And my Cousin Amanda and her whole family came for the fun. We found a great deal on Living Social so the tickets were cheap! This place has a picnic pavilion and they let you bring in your own food, another plus. They have 15 mechanical rides for toddlers and I wanted the kids to have this so we had to splurge on the $15.00 wrist bands. This part was an expense but overall the rest of the budget friendly activities made it worth it! The farm has PLENTY to do without buying this band but I wanted to see the kids ride rides.

Overall Madison was the ride champ, followed by a very close second, Jemma. I think Jemma was getting tired at the end of our trip and refused to ride the train. Next in the running was Tyler, he was apprehensive about all the rides but quickly realized he was having fun. Now Carter was a different story, he didn't want to get on any of the rides. He cried for everyone but the tears soon turned to unease and finally joy. Carter did make his brother cry for some of the festivities but I think next year they will both LOVE them!

After we rode each ride there was plenty more fun to be had. We pet animals in the petting zoo, we climbed all the playground equipment, we got lost in the corn maize, we watched the pumpkin launch and the corn shooters, we had a picnic and last but not least we watched the pig races! There was still plenty more that the big kids did that we didn't get around to, like face painting, a huge bounce slide, potato sack races, and even rubber duck races! This place could seriously be a two day trip! Now for the fun part, PICTURES!